There is so much for us to learn about the wonders of God's creation. Together we can increase our knowledge by looking into some of the wonders of life and living. And perhaps by knowing our world better, we can know ourselves better and ultimately, know God better.

Monday, December 28, 2009

"He stretcheth out the north over the empty place, and hangeth the earth upon nothing."

Job 26:7

Here are some of the things I've recently learned about the Earth and the Sun, Mercury and Venus. Of course some of these things, we already knew, but it's good to think about them again!

Of course we know that life on Earth would not be possible without the Sun!

The food we eat exists because of sunlight falling on green plants, and the fuel we burn comes either from such plants, or was accumulated by them in the forms of coal, oil and natural gas.

The power of the sun's heat really can't be grasped with our human minds, but here are a couple of illustrations:

Mercury and Venus are much closer to the sun than we are, and I read that if there were any water on those planets the water would become steam because of the heat from the Sun!

There is a huge variation in the temperature on Mercury which is the planet closest to the sun.. The side of Mercury facing the sun is very hot, about 800° F, which is hot enough to melt zinc and tin! But the dark side gets very cold, about –280° F, with no sun to warm it and no atmosphere to hold in the heat.

The thought that amazes me amidst these facts is that---

God has placed the Earth in the exact position in the universe so that to us who are on this Earth, the Sun is life-giving!

Louis Armstrong was one of my grandmother's favorite artists, and this is a beautiful song and video -- thanks for sharing it, and those wonderful facts. The more we learn about our beloved Creator, the more we have to be in amazement!